No one would have predicted it.

But you could have made a lot of money if you did.

With uncharacteristic dispatch, the United States Senate unanimously voted to ban senators and staff from playing in the prediction markets.

«This is a national security risk,» said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. «The very possibility that a member’s vote could be influenced by a bet is reason enough to slam the door shut.»

SENATE QUIETLY BANS LAWMAKERS FROM BETTING ON PREDICTION MARKETS

You can’t predict the future. But now in the Senate, you can’t even bet on it.

Especially real world events.

Like if the stock market might crash. The fate of the economy. War. Terrorism.

Or who would wear what gown at the Met Gala.

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The biggest concern on Capitol Hill is potential wagering on the fate of legislation. Or the confirmation of nominees. There’s bipartisan concern that speculation in the prediction markets could tilt political outcomes.

«Engaging in any way in a prediction market or trying to place bets where we might have inside information deteriorates the confidence that our constituents have in us,» said Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio.

Moreno pushed to change the rules for senators. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., amended Moreno’s proposal to include Senate aides.

This only applies to the Senate. For now. The House is playing catch up.

«Any place where your role in Congress has a potential for individual benefit, I think needs to be tightly controlled,» said Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., when asked about prospects for a similar measure in the House.

Keep in mind that under the Constitution, the House and Senate can make their own rules.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said «we must never allow Congress to turn into a casino.» (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Senate’s maneuver comes just weeks after the Feds busted a U.S. special forces solider who had access to classified information – and then bet on the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Virginia U.S. Senate candidate Mark Moran placed a wager that he would run for office. Moran later made money on his own proposition after he jumped into the race.

«Our constituents have to know that our only guiding light is what’s best for our state. What’s best for the people of our states. And what’s best for the United States of America,» said Moreno.

«We must never allow Congress to turn into a casino,» said Schumer. «Just the possibility that Members could have their votes influence because of betting is a reason enough to prohibit members from meddling in the prediction markets.»

But Schumer wants prediction market prohibitions extended to the executive branch. The New York Democrat argues that the Trump Administration «shows such a troubling affinity to corruption and self-dealing.»

SENATE PASSES MEASURE BANNING LAWMAKERS FROM PREDICTION BETS

This brings us to something else from which many Congressional Democrats want to exclude the executive branch: trading stocks.

But here’s the problem. Congress has paid lip service to imposing its own ban for lawmakers and aides to stock trades. But neither the House nor Senate ever implemented an across-the-board prohibition.

It’s a stalled issue. And has been so for years.

«Send me a bill that bans insider trading by Members of Congress and I will sign it tomorrow,» instructed former President Obama during his State of the Union speech in January 2012.

«Let’s also ensure that Members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information,» proclaimed President Trump during his State of the Union message in February.

Well, it’s nearly mid-2026 and Congress still isn’t all the way there.

President Donald Trump expressed a desire to «ensure that Members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information» at his State of the Union address. (Jabin Botsford/Getty Images)

Late Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., and former Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., were the most ardent advocates of a Congressional stock trading ban – dating back to 2006. Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, made hundreds of stock trades in 1999 and 2000. That caught Baird’s attention.

«If there is a way to make a profit on that, somebody has probably already figured out a way to do it,» said Baird, «And it’s not illegal.»

Congress finally passed the STOCK Act in 2012. It stands for «Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge.» There was concern that lawmakers are privy to financial, economic and political intelligence. Therefore, they could buy or sell stocks on information which bordered on «insider trading.»

But the STOCK Act didn’t prohibit lawmakers from playing on Wall Street. It just required additional financial disclosures about when lawmakers and aides traded stocks.

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President Obama’s 2012 entreaty certainly helped goad lawmakers into approving the STOCK Act a few days later. But it wasn’t a ban on «insider trading» as the former president suggested. This just entailed additional transparency.

The stalemate over stock trades baffles some lawmakers.

«I don’t know why it’s been such a challenge in the House,» said Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va. «I think any Member saying that they should be able to trade stocks is flat out wrong. I think it degrades trust in the institution. Even for those members who are not trading on inside information.»

House Administration Committee Chairman Brian Steil, R-Wis., has a bill to curb stock trades by lawmakers.

«If you want a day trade, go to Wall Street. Come to Washington to lead this country,» said Steil.

«If you want a day trade, go to Wall Street,» House Administration Committee Chairman Brian Steil, R-Wis., said. (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)

But that bill is marooned. It partly goes back to the Democrats’ push to extend any Congressional stock trading ban to the executive branch. That’s something many Republicans are reluctant to do.

«There is zero justification and rationale for allowing a president of any party or a vice president of any party, to be able to engage in stock trading while they have the awesome power of the presidency, vice presidency and executive branch in their hands,» said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., believes the stock trade issue is evolving. She doubts that voters will put up with market activity by her colleagues much longer.

«We know there are many colleagues who do still trade stocks. I think the American public is much more informed on this topic now. And this is very unpopular. So I do think the tide is changing and it will become untenable for any member to to be supportive of  it,» said Ansari. «I think more people have more information. So what a Member of Congress was able to get away with even five years ago just is not possible today.»

Like many things when it comes to ethics in politics, it’s not necessarily impropriety. But the perception of impropriety. The public holds Congress in low esteem to start with. Many voters believe the «ruling class» has special access to information which enables them to game the system for their own economic benefit. That distrust may fester as long as Congress fails to police its own.

While we can’t predict the future, people can certainly shape it. Congress has a lot of tools at its disposal to contour that future. The question is if lawmakers are bending those fortunes in their direction.

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So will Congress approve a stock trading ban? The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.

In other words, don’t bet on it.

Two former Chinese defense ministers have been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for corruption, in one of the most severe punishments handed down to senior military officials in recent years.

Reuters reported that Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu received the suspended death sentences on May 7 following graft convictions by China’s military court, according to state media.

The ruling underscores the depth of President Xi Jinping’s long-running anti-corruption campaign within the armed forces, the outlet said.

According to the official Xinhua News Agency, Wei was convicted of accepting bribes, while Li was found guilty of both accepting and offering bribes, based on court documents.

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Both men were also stripped of their political rights for life and ordered to forfeit all personal property.

Under Chinese law, a death sentence with a two-year reprieve is typically commuted to life imprisonment if the individual does not commit further crimes during the suspension period.

In this case, the penalties will be reduced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or further commutation after the reprieve period ends.

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Former Defence Minister Li Shangfu was the successor to Wei (Caroline Chia / Reuters)

Wei Fenghe, 72, served as China’s defense minister from 2018 to 2023, while Li Shangfu, 68, held the post for only a few months as his successor.

Both men were former state councillors and members of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), the top military leadership body chaired by Xi.

They also previously led the People’s Liberation Army’s Rocket Force, a key branch established in 2015 as part of Xi’s sweeping military reforms.

The Rocket Force oversees China’s nuclear arsenal as well as its conventional missile systems, making it one of the most strategically significant arms of the military.

The sentences signal an escalation in Xi’s campaign to root out corruption in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), a drive that has targeted senior officials since he took power in 2012.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping walks with soldiers in uniform as the House Select Committee on China raises concerns about taxpayer dollars going to CCP-linked entities. (Li Gang/Xinhua)

The crackdown intensified in 2023, when investigations reached the Rocket Force and other elite units.

Both Wei and Li were expelled from the ruling Communist Party in June 2024.

Singapore-based security scholar James Char told Reuters the sentences were the harshest imposed on members of the Central Military Commission in recent history.

«That Wei and Li have been commuted to life imprisonment without parole or commutation underlines the severity of their offences,» he said.

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The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a London-based think tank, had previously warned that the ongoing purges could be weakening China’s military command structure.

The organization said the campaign may have created disruptions that could affect the readiness of the country’s rapidly modernizing armed forces.

ELLSWORTH, MAINE — Graham Platner says he still wouldn’t support Sen. Chuck Schumer as Senate Democratic leader going forward, even after holding what he described as a «perfectly cordial conversation» with the top Democrat in the chamber.

Platner, an oyster farmer and Army and Marine veteran who served in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, will face off in this year’s midterm elections in blue-leaning Maine against longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins. The high-profile and competitive 2026 race is one of a handful across the country that will likely determine whether Republicans keep control of their slim Senate majority.

Platner, a first-time candidate, who is backed by progressive champions Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, became the Democrats’ presumptive nominee after his rival for the nomination, two-term Gov. Janet Mills, ended her campaign two weeks ago after trailing Platner in polling and fundraising.

Mills was supported by Schumer, who recruited the governor to enter the race.

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But Platner said what could have been a difficult conversation was anything but when he had a chance to speak with Schumer on the phone after Mills ended her bid.

«It was not awkward at all. He called to congratulate me on a good race, and nothing brings people together like agreeing that Susan Collins shouldn’t be in the U.S. Senate. So we had a perfectly cordial conversation.»

Platner said that «at this point, it very much feels that the Democratic Party will support us in our continued endeavor.» But he added «we’re going to keep doing what we’ve done up here, because it’s obviously what’s working.»

Platner is one of a small but growing number of progressive Senate candidates who say that, if elected in November, they won’t support Schumer as the Senate’s Democratic leader. Platner added that the topic of his lack of support for the Democratic leader didn’t come up in his conversation with Schumer.

Platner advocates an economically populist agenda as he takes aim at corporate influences and advocates for the working class as he runs for the Senate.

In an interview in Maine with Fox News Digital last week, Collins was asked if she believes Platner is too far to the left and extreme for voters in her northern New England state.

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«I believe that will be the conclusion of Maine voters. But, obviously, I don’t take anything for granted,» the senator, who is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate, answered.

But Platner charges that it’s Collins who is too «radical.»

«My response is that, trying to bring down costs for working Mainers. Trying to make sure that our communities don’t get emptied out because housing has become unaffordable for young people. Trying to create a system in which we are not seeing our health care system utilized as a way of just screwing working people all for the benefit of a health care insurance CEO, I don’t think that’s radical at all,» Platner said. «I think in fact that what most Mainers agree is what we have to be doing.»

And he charged, «What’s radical is somebody like Susan Collins, who, for decades now, has made sure that we pass policies that are going to help corporations and billionaires to the detriment of working people, supporting over and over and over again, illegal and insane foreign wars. She voted to send me to Iraq, and now she continues to vote to support the war in Iran,» Platner said. «I’m sorry that I think is much more radical to the people of Maine than having a health care system that doesn’t collapse before our eyes.»

Platner enlisted in the Marines in 2003 and served three combat tours in Iraq. In 2010, he joined the Maryland Army National Guard for a fourth tour, serving in the infantry in Afghanistan. He returned to Afghanistan eight years later as a security contractor.

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It’s been less than two weeks since Platner became the Democrats’ presumptive nominee, and Republicans didn’t waste any time in taking aim at him.

A Republican group supporting Collins is already blasting Platner in a new ad over controversial comments he made over a decade ago on Reddit about women and rape and a well-publicized tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi 

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, left, and Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner (Fox News and Getty Images)

Among the comments is one from 2013, which Platner later deleted, that people concerned about rape should not «get so f—ed up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to.»

Platner apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after they made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign. And Platner has said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He said that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol.

The candidate said he’s not concerned about the attack ad, which is likely just a taste of things to come.

«The Democratic establishment tried to use all those attacks against me and failed miserably,» Platner said as he referred to a spot from the Mills campaign before she dropped out of the race. «Now the Republican establishment is going to try to use the exact same attacks, and that will also fail miserably.»

Platner insisted that «the people of Maine understand exactly what this is. They’re not happy to see millions of dollars poured into negative TV ads in a state that, quite frankly, could use million dollars of investment in lots of other things instead of just negative television. And I don’t think it’s going to work, because it hasn’t up until this point.»

And pointing to the Republican attack ad, he said «we knew it was coming the whole time. Look, man, I fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. Somebody wants to say….mean things about me on television, I’m pretty sure I can handle it.»

Platner has also faced scrutiny for more recent Reddit posts, including one from five years ago where he described himself as a «communist» and «socialist.»

«You should read the comments in context. It’s very clear I’m joking,» he told Fox News Digital when asked about them. «It’s called shitposting. It’s when you argue with people on the internet and try to bother them. So, yeah, no, it’s very obviously not true.»

Graham Platner, the Democrats’ presumptive Senate nominee in Maine, holds an energy event in Ellsworth, Maine on Monday, May 11, 2026. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Platner was interviewed minutes after casting an early voting ballot in Maine’s primary and then holding an event near a gas station to showcase his newly released energy plan, which he says will help reduce people’s bills.

His proposal includes eliminating the national gas and diesel tax, a freeze on electricity rate increases and a fund for clean energy projects.

Platner said his energy plan is «very central» to his campaign. «I think energy costs right now are one of the things that are most damaging working families in this state. It is, in my opinion, essentially an existential crisis that we face.»

Democrats are spotlighting the cost of living as they overperform in special elections, which they hope is a prelude to winning back control of Congress in the midterms.

Republicans — as the party currently in power in Washington, D.C. — were already up against traditional political headwinds that typically lead to a loss of congressional seats. Add to that the challenging climate fueled by persistent inflation, rising gas prices tied to what polls show is an unpopular war with Iran and Trump’s underwater approval ratings.

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Asked how she can overcome the blame pointed at Republicans over the high cost of living, Collins told Fox News Digital last week that she’s championed the low-income heating assistance program, which «helps low-income families and seniors stay warm during the cold winter months. I just recently made sure the final tranche of money was released because there is a lot of need in the state of Maine, and the cost of living is high here.»

Collins, who was interviewed at a food bank that expanded with federal funding the senator helped obtain, also emphasized her opposition to cuts «in food stamp benefits and in other programs that designed for low-income families because I know how important they are.»